Illegal Activity

Illegal activities involve goods or services that are prohibited by law. We restrict any attempt to buy, sell or trade such goods or services as there can be serious safety, financial or legal consequences. Any activities on BandLab that arrange or facilitate an illegal activity off BandLab will also be considered a violation.

Violations lead to content removal and warning, as well as account suspension for repeated offences. Serious offences with credible threat to human lives or safety may also be reported to law enforcement agencies.

 Not allowed

• Human exploitation (Adult*) — Any attempt to offer, facilitate, encourage others to, or ask for:

  • Human smuggling — Facilitation of illegal entry into another state across international borders. While the victims may voluntarily procure such services, this is still a crime against a state and seen as a form of exploitation of vulnerable individuals.

  • Human trafficking — Illegal trade of human victims for purposes like forced labor, sexual exploitation, organ trade, forced marriages or other forms of abuse.

• Illegal drugs — Any attempt to offer, facilitate, encourage others to, or ask for:

  • Narcotics or controlled substances without legal prescriptions. These can include street drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or unfounded medicinal usage of controlled substances.

  • Providing instructions or ingredients on how to make homemade drugs, or variants for the purposes of getting intoxicated.

  • For minor safety, we prohibit any depiction of young people involved in the trade or consumption of drugs, regardless of legality.

• Illegal trade or unlawful use of weapons — Any attempt to offer, facilitate, encourage others to, or ask for:

  • Illegal trade of firearms and explosives.

  • Dangerous or unlawful usage of firearms and explosives, e.g. firing a gun into the air, especially in an urban setting.

  • Providing instructions on how to make homemade firearms, weapons, explosives, or obtain illegal variants such as ghost guns.

• Illegal financial activities — to prevent financial loss to our users, we restrict any promotion or facilitation of:

  • Frauds and scams, including fraudulent investment products, job scams, or schemes to carry out identity theft/ data phishing. These include all pyramid schemes, and certain Multi-Level Marketing (MLMs) that are known to be fraudulent or highly risky.

  • Illegal gambling sites or casinos as prescribed by local regulations, e.g. Asian, Middle-Eastern or African countries that have banned locals from gambling activities and being advertised to.

  • Money laundering or moving of illegally acquired funds.

• Other illegal activities, including but not limited to:

  • Illegal wildlife hunting/ poaching or trade of endangered animals, including parts or derivative products of them (e.g., ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, turtle shells).

  • Trade of counterfeit goods, e.g. fake luxury items.

  • Production, sale or distribution of fake currencies (including digital currencies), forged documents, or stolen information (usually personal, financial or sensitive data).

* We have zero tolerance regarding human exploitation involving minors, which is prohibited under our Minor Safety policies.

 Allowed

• Sharing of illegal activities in educational contexts, e.g. news exposé or documentary content on illegal activities, without promotion.